


Tell Her How You Feel

by hoisin-liker (fistycuff)



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Gender Identity, Other, post-coital real talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-04-23
Packaged: 2018-06-04 01:57:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6636307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fistycuff/pseuds/hoisin-liker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Max and Victoria attempt to define themselves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tell Her How You Feel

"What are we?"

The cliché catches Victoria off guard, and she catches herself almost smiling. It strikes her as a very Max Caulfield thing to say. She's almost annoyed at herself for not anticipating the question and having an acceptable answer prepped and ready, but a line finds its way to her lips easy enough.

"We're just... two girls who spend time together sometimes."

"I don't know, I -"

"- I swear, if you're about to start telling me this means so much more to you, I am Done."

"Like I would fall in love with you. Yeah, of course you would think that, you fucking narcissist."

Victoria props herself up on one elbow to ensure Max sees her deliver her haughtiest eye roll.

"Whatever. Are you going to tell me what you mean or what."

"I mean I don't..." Max trails off as the old familiar certainty that the words now stranded somewhere between brain and throat are profoundly stupid bubbles up from inside, and for a moment the urge is to get up and get dressed and leave and drop it and never raise the topic again, but Victoria is right there, and she's beautiful, and there's this look in her eye that Max wants so badly to believe is trustworthy and caring that the words somehow trip over the finish line, and they are "I don't feel like a girl."

The look in her eyes changes and in that instant Max remembers that Victoria Chase can be cruel sometimes. Max stares heavily at the floor, avoiding her gaze, but when Victoria laughs it's more nervous than derisive, and she speaks tentatively in a way Max has never heard from her before.

"I know I can't just, tell you to not be insecure any more and expect that to do anything, but I swear you don't have to feel like that. I get that it's probably hard to be around me because I always just... nobody lets me be anything less than perfect. But that doesn't mean I'm better than you."

Max's exhale comes heavy in a way that tells Victoria she's barking up entirely the wrong tree.

"Um, this is actually super not about you. For the record, I don't think you're better than me, and I'm not saying I feel like I'm less of anything, okay. I just don't feel like being a girl has anything to do with me. I know that when people see me, they think that's what I am, but that's just an assumption. That's what they think I should be, but... thinking doesn't make it so, I guess. If that makes sense."

Victoria sits up against the headboard and considers her words..

"I'm not going to say I know exactly how you feel, but I do know what it's like to be completely sick of people projecting their expectations onto you, and not giving you any space to be any different regardless of what you want, and... yeah. I think I see what you're saying."

Something in Victoria moves her hand to Max's, and she softly nods when Max looks her in the eyes again. The silence between them is light, and filled with the hope a person feels when they understand themselves better.

"Two people. We're two people who spend time together sometimes." Victoria mutters, and Max squeezes her hand ever so slightly.

**Author's Note:**

> and then they were both like "also this doesn't make our whole situation any less gay this is still so so gay"
> 
> i really meant to write victoria way meaner but it turns out i'm soft as hell so i didn't
> 
> this took me like 3 days to write on and off and it was exhausting bc i haven't seriously written anything in years, but i might write more things in future because it was kinda nice
> 
> like comment and subscribe or whatever


End file.
